Oil prices slide to 11-day low on hopes of US-Iran diplomacy, Saudi exports

As per the latest business developments, Crude prices slid towards the psychological threshold of US$100 a barrel and to their lowest in 11 days on Monday as market participants hoped for diplomatic progress on the Iran war due to the current week's United Nations (UN) meeting, and eyed a partial recovery in shipments from Saudi Arabia.

Brent crude futures and US West Texas Intermediate crude touched their lowest since September 10 earlier on Monday. The Brent contract for November was at US$101.18 a barrel at 1254 GMT, down US$2.69, or 2.6 per cent.

The WTI October contract that is expiring on Tuesday additionally declined US$2.69, or 2.7 per cent, to US$97.61 a barrel. The November contract stood at US$93.49.

Iran and the United States exchanged new threats on Sunday, although President Donald Trump stated he would be open to meeting Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, who is anticipated to be in New York the current week for the UN General Assembly.

Al Jazeera noted that Iran's security chief Mohsen Rezaei stated that Tehran conveyed its conditions to mediators for re-engaging in negotiations.

That stated, fighting in the Middle East continued as Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis stated they had attacked Riyadh as well as a Saudi Aramco facility in the Red Sea city of Yanbu, while pushing to trimmed off the Red Sea coast from remaining areas held by Saudi-backed forces.

According to three Iranian sources familiar with the matter, China has asked Iran to help rein in the Houthis after an appeal to Beijing by Saudi Arabia following the attacks.

The attacks by the Houthis on Aramco's East-West pipeline have prompted the firm to gain exports through the Strait of Hormuz this month and next after halting some shipments via Yanbu.

"Middle East oil flows stay surprisingly firm despite the disruption to Saudi Arabia's East-West pipeline," JPMorgan market watchers stated in a September 18 note.

"The most notable pivot has come from Saudi Arabia," they further noted, as satellite data indicated Saudi oil moving through the Strait of Hormuz averaged 2.9 million barrels per day (bpd) during the past six days, up from just 700,000 bpd in August.

In the meantime, on Monday, Libya's National Oil Corporation Chairman Massoud Suleman told Reuters that the country's Sharara oilfield has noted a partial reduction in production, without giving a reason.